Then Butler opted for a defensive NFL analogy when asked about the fast break he broke up late after the Bulls had squandered most of a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead.

"That was me being a Denver Bronco cornerback," Butler said. "I was backpedaling. I saw Aaron Rodgers try to throw the ball over the top. I was Chris Harris on that play and just smacked it to Derrick (Rose), who was Von Miller."

Welcome to the early stages of this Bulls season. For all the talk about Fred Hoiberg's offense, which was clicking with pace and pop in a 54-point first half, that's two games in which defensive plays sealed the deal.

Butler's deft deflection didn't rival Pau Gasol's block of LeBron James in the opener or even Butler's steal of the inbounds pass right after Gasol's block to seal the victory against the Cavaliers. But it's another example of a veteran team that knows how important that side of the ball remains.

"Defense wins championships," said Gasol, who has won two.

The Bulls held the Magic to 38.9 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. Through four games, the Bulls are holding opponents to sub-40 percent shooting at 39.6.

"We're getting stops when we need them," Joakim Noah said. "We have to keep building on our intensity."

Butler was all over the box score with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals and two blocks. And no matter how many times he was asked about his athletic play, which came with just over 2 minutes left and the Bulls nursing a four-point lead, he couldn't let the NFL thing go.

"I was just watching (Aaron Gordon's) eyes like defensive backs do on quarterbacks," Butler said, now laughing. "I knew he was going to throw it and just made a play on the ball.

"On the defensive end, I have to be the one to start us and get us going. On the offensive end, it could be anybody."

Ah, yes, the offense. There's plenty of good: Nine of the 10 Bulls who logged action scored. Seven recorded assists. Nobody took more than Gasol's 14 shots.

Gasol and Nikola Mirotic each scored 16 to lead the balanced attack. Mirotic became the first player in franchise history with at least three 3-pointers in the first four games of a season. And his 13 3-pointers are second most in the NBA behind Stephen Curry.

But the Bulls shot just 37.9 percent. And that fourth-quarter lull that allowed the Magic to rip off a 14-0 run is alarming.

"I thought in the first half our pace was excellent," Hoiberg said. "We were really getting out and pushing. Our wings were running. Then we kind of got stuck in mud."

Rose helped snap them out of it, driving, facilitating, finishing with eight assists and just eight shots.

"I don't think we have one selfish person on this team," Rose said.

Butler agreed.

"The style of play helps," he said. "Everybody's confident and taking the shots they're given. We're such an unselfish team that we're making it kind of easy at times. No one guy has that load on him because at any given time, a guy could have it going."